High School Musical Awards May 23 at The Orpheum Theatre

The air will be electric at the 2013 Orpheum High School Musical Awards. That's when more than 200 teens from 24 high schools drama departments learn who this year's winners are at this popular awards show. The curtain rises on Thursday, May 23rd, at 7 p.m. Awards are given for acting and musical performance as well as technical, costume, and set design. The students who win for Best Actor and Best Actress will travel to New York City in June for the Jimmie Awards.

The 2012 winners for Best Actor and Best Actress — Sam Shankman and Sabaa traveled to New York City last summer to compete in the national awards, which honor the best teen performers in musical theatre nationally. You can read our interview with them here. Sixty-four high schools were represented and the weeklong competition was even the focus of a documentary Broadway or Bust, which aired locally on PBS.